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Image MIME Reference
EDMICS-RLC

Fuji Xerox EDMICS-RLC

image/vnd.fujixerox.edmics-rlc
VS

Valve Texture Format

image/vnd.valve.source.texture
VTF

A complete technical comparison of Fuji Xerox EDMICS-RLC and Valve Texture Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature EDMICS-RLC VTF
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
Fuji Xerox EDMICS-RLC
image/vnd.fujixerox.edmics-rlc
Extension
.rlc.edm
Container Fuji Xerox EDMICS Wrapper
Compression Run-Length Coding (RLC / RLE)
Algorithm
Run-Length Coding (RLC)
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Grayscale)
Developed by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
Released 1990s
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary Container)
Full EDMICS-RLC reference →
Valve Texture Format
image/vnd.valve.source.texture
Extension
.vtf
Container Valve Texture Format Header
Compression DXTC (DXT1, DXT3, DXT5) / Uncompressed (BGRA8888, RGB888, etc.)
Algorithm
DXT1-DXT5None
Color Depth 8-bit, 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (RGBA), 16-bit Floating Point (HDR)
Developed by Valve Corporation
Released 2004
Magic Bytes
56 54 46 00
Full VTF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser EDMICS-RLC VTF
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
EDMICS-RLC

EDMICS-RLC Strengths

  • Simple, computationally inexpensive Run-Length Coding enabled rapid compression and decompression on low-power legacy hardware
  • Deeply integrated into Fuji Xerox enterprise hardware for seamless, automated scan-to-archive workflows
Limitations
  • Completely proprietary and closed-source, making modern archival extraction and migration extremely difficult
  • No support in modern image processing libraries like ImageMagick, libvips, or standard viewers without bespoke decoding tools
  • RLC compression is far less efficient than modern algorithms like PNG (Deflate) for complex documents
VTF

VTF Strengths

  • Extremely fast loading within the Source Engine because the block-compressed data goes directly into the GPU's VRAM without CPU decompression overhead
  • Bundles mipmaps, volumetric slices, cubemap faces, and animation frames entirely within a single file
  • Openly documented by the Valve Developer Community, leading to a massive ecosystem of third-party modding tools
Limitations
  • Strictly tied to the Source Engine ecosystem; entirely useless in standard web or print contexts
  • No native support in standard image editors without hunting down and installing specialized plugins
  • Block compression algorithms (DXT) are lossy and can cause visible artifacting, especially on normal maps or smooth gradients

When to choose which format

EDMICS-RLC
Use EDMICS-RLC when…
  • Fuji Xerox EDMICS Enterprise Systems
  • Archival of Scanned Engineering Documents
  • Legacy Corporate Scanning Pipelines
VTF
Use VTF when…
  • Source Engine Game Textures
  • Custom Maps and Modding (Garry's Mod, CS:GO)
  • Animated In-Game Decals and Sprays
  • Environment Cubemaps (Skyboxes)

More comparisons

EDMICS-RLC vs ACES → VTF vs ACES → EDMICS-RLC vs APNG → VTF vs APNG → EDMICS-RLC vs AVCI → VTF vs AVCI → EDMICS-RLC vs AVCS → VTF vs AVCS → EDMICS-RLC vs AVIF → VTF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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